M 5

The bewildered Sehwa struggled with all his might. Ki Tae-jeong patted him on the back just like comforting a pet.​

“Be smart. If you don’t want to be torn to death alive.”​

His index and middle fingers broke into Sehwas mouth at once. It was so hard and rough that Sehwa wondered if it was not a hand, but a gun. It was the exact opposite of the comforting touch. Ki Tae-jeong pulled out his saliva-soaked thumb and pressed it firmly under his chin. strength in his grip was so intense that it felt like it could pierce through the inside of his mouth.

“Ugh, ah…, huff…!”

His face became wet and mushy, and the man’s body seemed as if it were made of stone, unresponsive no matter how much Sehwa struggled. What he was doing now was no different from what the perverted customers used to do, asking how wide Sehwa’s mouth could open and how much he could suck for a certain amount of money.

“Hmm… not quite what I was expecting.”

His index finger twisted like a ring, tapped and knocked on various parts inside of his cheek as if searching. It was as if he was exploring. Drooling incessantly like an idiot, Sehwa blinked his eyes absentmindedly. Maybe… maybe, this endless act wasn’t sexual harassment after all. There was something else. This man had different intentions. At the same time, a strange sense of crisis brushed against the back of his mind.

“Is it not here?”

His index finger pressed hard against the space beside Sehwa’s molars. The abnormality of his actions, which as if he were digging, finally brought him to his senses. Ah, right. Sehwa thought he understood. It felt similar when he saw Ki Tae-jeong’s subordinate pick up the cigarette. It felt exactly like the discomfort he felt back then.

If his guess was correct, Ki Tae-jeong was… he was checking. He wanted to see if there was any hidden drug inside Sehwa’s body. When you use your body as packing, traces are unavoidably left behind. The teeth were naturally crooked as a result of pushing the powder into the plastic, and the gap between the inside of the cheeks and the teeth was unusually large.

Ki Tae-jeong wanted to confirm how much smuggling could be done with Sehwa’s body as a carrier, or whether there was anything he was still hiding inside his body.

And if he was exploring his mouth like this for that purpose, soon…

“I felt it before…”​

Only when Sehwa heard the man’s deep voice did he come to his senses. Ki Tae-jeong seemed to have stopped probing his mouth while he was absentmindedly rolling his head, which didn’t work well. He stared intently at Sehwa’s face, almost rudely, and then gave a faint smile.

The air was filled with silence, which had multiple meanings. The sound of saliva swallowing served as a signal while Sehwa’s neck, which had been held by the man’s hand, moved noticeably.

​“…!”​

Without even time to prepare, a fierce fist slammed into the pit of his stomach. Ki Tae-jeong’s fingers were still in his mouth, so Sehwa couldn’t even make a sound. Annoyingly, his fingers spread apart skillfully, preventing Sehwa from biting into his flesh or leaving any marks.

“You could call this blunt, or you could call it quick-witted.”

Ki Tae-jeong flicked his saliva-drenched hand to the opposite side and took a step back. A strange groan escaped from Sehwa. His knees involuntarily buckled. It felt like his entire torso had been shattered, including his backbone.

“I’m not exactly thrilled either.”

But without any opportunity to release what was inside him, Ki Tae-jeong’s hard boot-like foot struck the same spot.

“But it’s my job.”

Sehwa was kicked like a soccer ball several times and his back hit the wall. It sounded as if a bone had been broken.

“Sorry, sweetie.”

The kicks were unexpected. By this point, Sehwa thought he would get kicked again, but Ki Tae-jeong only lightly nudged him with the tip of his shoe. But when he tried to catch his breath, he ruthlessly kicked his abdomen like it was dry leather. The force felt as if it was about to pierce his flesh with his toe. Sehwa looked at Ki Tae-jeong, or rather, his feet, with unfocused eyes. He couldn’t tell if the bloodstain on the tip of his shoe came from his mouth or had penetrated his internal organs.

“Oh, you are still fine?”

It wasn’t something to say in front of someone who threw up and spilled blood, but Sehwa could see what he meant. Even if he pricked his mouth and kicked his stomach to make him vomit everything inside, he seemed puzzled because no traces of his performance as a drug carrier were revealed.​

At the same time, his teeth trembled. Most of the people who transported drugs in their bodies were already addicts to the core. The ones who failed were usually involved in gambling as well. They accumulated debts and couldn’t get rid of the addiction, so they resorted to transporting drugs as a means of payment.

​But just by looking at the condition of Sehwa’s eyes, the color of his nails, and the color of his lips, Ki Tae-jeong would have known that he wasn’t an addict. Even though he knew that Sehwa did not put drugs in his body, yet he still intentionally tormented him, displaying his proficiency in torture, while hinting at his knowledge of drug transportation. It was meant to make Sehwa submit out of fear.

“…I don’t have… anything.”

“What?”

Ki Tae-jeong’s hands gripped his hair. Sehwa’s head suddenly lifted, and it felt as if his entire scalp would be pulled out.​

“I, most… drugs…, I can… distinguish most drugs… not just narcotics.”​

Sehwa’s droopy fingertips trembled. Handfuls of blood poured from his nose and from his mouth. However, the thing that dominated his head more than resentment and anger was fear. He was used to being beaten. But reaching this point usually took a few hours with six or seven people. It was unimaginable that this kind of situation would arise from just a few kicks. His instincts, ingrained through experience, told him that this man was capable of inflicting pain far surpassing anything he had ever endured.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, his body involuntarily prostrated itself. If he wanted to die without suffering, then Ki Tae-jeong’s words about surrendering peacefully were not a joke. And Sehwa… he wanted to live. He always dreamed of living a simple, human-like life, but if that was too difficult, he simply wished for a peaceful death.

“Sweetie, anyone can pretend. I tend to trust machines more than people.”

“I… I’m not addicted.”

Unable to move his body, he made a futile attempt to lower himself and rolled up his own sleeves.

“Where did you get this?”

Sehwa smiled bitterly at the ridiculousness of his outfit.

“Since I was born, I had a constitution that allowed me to distinguish not only anesthetics but also drugs with just a taste…”

As always, he gave up easily. Even though he had resolved to kneel obediently and beg for his life, there was still stiffness in his words. It seemed that his habit of stubbornly trying to live differently didn’t fade easily. Suddenly, a laugh escaped him. The version of himself a few hours ago, who had dreamed of a 1-star resident card, seemed ridiculous. Despite his pointless greed, deep inside his heart, he had already resigned himself. He never thought it would end up like this, not as Sakura, Samwol, or Hongdan, but as Lee sehwa. Rolling around on the floor, ending up in such a miserable state.

“Because I’m not addicted…, manufacturing was easier than others…”​

Looking at Sehwa’s forearm, where there were no marks from needle pricks, Ki Tae-jeong slowly stroked his chin. In his sloppy sentences, the man who had gathered all the necessary information nodded and pressed a button on his watch. Apparently, it had a summoning function, as Lieutenant Park and other men in black suits rushed in.

“Install what you brought, Lieutenant Park.”

“Yes.”

“How long does it take for a comprehensive test result after drawing the blood?”

“If it’s not for identifying rare diseases, about ten minutes should be enough.”

Ki Tae-jeong nodded. As if this had happened not once or twice, Lieutenant Park was accustomed to opening something like a doctor’s bag. He brushed the instruments of unknown use, and what he took out was an ordinary injection.​

“I have something to check, so take out what you brought.”

Lieutenant Park nodded as he handled the reagent bottle and the blood-filled injection needle. Meanwhile, a group of men who looked like soldiers ran around the office frantically. It was a skill if so many people could walk around without making a sound.

“It may be hard to believe, but I don’t like torturing for confessions. There’s an easier way.”

Ki Tae-jeong brushed the powder off the thin glass plate. There were two white substances and one light beige.

“These are quite potent aphrodisiacs…”

The glass was placed on the floor and Lieutenant Park wiped off the blood before he knew it.

“If consuming this doesn’t arouse you, I’ll believe what you say.”